Marin County Sheriff's Dept. operations.

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serebin

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I just figured out why talkgroup 45616 was very one sided (only heard officers out in the field talking) and why I didn't ever hear the conventional Sheriff's Dept frequencies being used:

Deputies in the field are transmitting on talk group 45616 on the TRS
Dispatch is transmitting on conventional 39.24

My pro-96 holds for a second or two on TRS, so by the time it starts scanning again I would only catch the tail end of the response from dispatch, if anything. I wish I could change the delay for that specific talkgroup, or program it so that when there is activity on one freq, it watches the other and vice versa. The best solution I can think of is to set dispatch 39.24 on priority so conversations make some sense.

Has anyone else noticed that the Sheriff's rigs are the worst sounding on MERA? Hell, dispatch just said "area 1 is very unreadable tonight"

Anyway, I submitted a minor change to the RR DB.

Later gents, This might not be new to you all, but I'm still entertained by MERA.
 

BlueZebra

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Hi!

Are you sure the Sheriffs are using the new radios? I think you may be hearing San Rafael PD, who I know are on, and Novato, who is due to go on it soon. The Sheriffs can't go on until the Tiburon tower issue is resolved.

I would be interested in any other info you have developed as to talkgroups, etc.

Thanks
 

serebin

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There has been a lot of new talkgroups active recently.

45616 has only just started really being active that I've noticed.

It was in the RR Database as "Sheriff's Office?" There's no question about it now though. The activity is coming from Sausalito, marin city, and other areas which utilize the Sheriff's Dept. Also, the lingo matches up to that used by Deputies.

The conventional frequency is definitely Sheriff's dispatch. It is referred to as base or control. They respond to the call signs calling code 4, or 10-27, 10-28 requests with the call signs on 45616.

Also, the APB talkgroup 62704 is coming out of the Sheriff's Dept (the person calling the APB or BOL will say it's the Sheriff's Dept in the transmission)

That's all for now for that organization.

Its sounding like a lot of people who don't use radios consistently through the day are getting on MERA.

Novato definitely has the most traffic coming through the network.

Later
 

BlueZebra

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Very interesting. I think you may be hearing simualcasts of APB/BOLs, which are put out by the Sheriff's office. These brodcasts are done on freqs all police agencies can hear. So, for Novato and San Rafael to hear the BOL/APBs that are being broadcast on the old low band freqs, there must be a patch being used.

I work for an agency that can't go on MERA yet due to the Tiburon antenna site issue, and includes the Sausalito/Marin City area. MERA is dead here for us, so the Sheriffs can't be using MERA as their radio system needs to be county wide.

Your 39.24 is the old Sheriff's main channel, still being used.

I understand the County Radio shop personnel are using MERA as well as some some city DPWs. Also, the ambulances are making base station contact on MERA as well. Most of the rest of the agencies plan on going on line in the coming winter. That is based on the Tiburon issue being resolved by then.

I don't have my Pro-96 with me, or I would have some other questions to ask about setting it up for MERA.

So, more later...
 

serebin

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Very interesting. I think you may be hearing simualcasts of APB/BOLs, which are put out by the Sheriff's office. These brodcasts are done on freqs all police agencies can hear.

No, Sheriff's mutual aid (APB & BOL traffic) is 62704. Here's a post I just found about that actually: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayscan/message/28627

As for 45616, like I said in my previous posts, it is regular Deputy traffic from sausalito and marin city (but mostly from or about sausalito it seems). The traffic on 45616 is regular 27 and 28 requests, code 4, or things such as "I'll be checking out the sherwood apartments", and other such landmarks that are in sausalito. They refer to roads in sausalito, etc. This is definitely NOT traffic that would need to be patched in to MERA so that other agencies could hear it. This traffic only started coming up in the last week, it is not as clear as the other agencies traffic, and it is sporadic with sometimes a moderate level of traffic.

Speaking of which, a call just went over 45616 from a officer at ridge road near the 101. Just regular cop talk, not any kind of APB/BOl. That is in sausalito.

Officers probably aren't on MERA, it's probably just a simulcast, but it's weird because you never hear dispatch on MERA, only on 39.24. So they're simulcasting only half the conversation. I'm too far to hear conventional traffic from sausalito so I only hear 45616. That'd explain that.
 

BlueZebra

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The link you provided refered to 39.52, which is the countywide law mutual aid channel, and one a number of agencies use for 27s and 28s, as the Sheriffs Comm Center has better computer services and links. It also refers to simulcasting this channel onto MERA. Probably for the reasons I said before.

The best part about all this is these agencies are getting the bugs out of the MERA system for us other users who will come on in great numbers later this year (hopefully), and helps us learn to scan trunked systems for the first time!

Again, when I have my Pro96 with me, I will have some questions. The main one is the loading of the second groups of spacing and base freq info. There seem to be too many fields on the Win96 expanded tables form. But more about that later.
 

serebin

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Novato is operating on a few talkgroups. I just discovered their tac 2 TG a few minutes ago.
 

serebin

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A Deputy on TG 45616 just called in a non-injury vehicle accident just up the road from me in Novato. Another one-sided conversation, can't hear dispatch. Funny thing is that I have all the Sheriff's Dept freqs in my pro-96, and either he's transmitting on a conventional freq that's being simulcast that I've not come accross, or it's not a simulcast.
 

novnet2005

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New to Scanning

I am new to scanning and would appreciate any frequencies that you suggest. Primarily Novato Police and Fire. Also why are some frequencies 5 digits and others are 4?
Thanks.
 

serebin

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Hey there fellow novato..ian? Anyway, the 45616, 62704, etc, numbers that were referred to are talkgroups that are used on the marin trunked network, commonly known as "MERA".

the other frequency, 39.24 is one of the conventional frequencies for the Sheriff's Office.
 

RolnCode3

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I lived in Novato for several years too. Anyone know if Marin can be picked up in the valley? (Sacramento). Kind of doubt it because of the mountains/hills, but curious.
 

SAR923

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You might be able to get site 2. They've got a repeater on top of Mt Tam, which should give a good signal in the Valley. I know I've been able to pick them up in Vacaville.
 
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